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Name
Kishor Kumar
Date of Birth
4th August, 1929
Birth Place
Khandwa Town of
Central Provinces and
Berar,
British India
(Now in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh)
Father’s Name
Sh.
Kunjalal Ganguly (Lawyer)
Mother’s Name Smt.
Gouri Devi
Brothers
1)
Ashok Kumar
(The Dldest),
2) Anoop Kumar
Sister
Sati Devi
Favorite Singer
Kundan Lal Saigal
(Whom he considered his
Guru)
Children
(2 Sons) Amit Kumar & Sumit Kumar
Kishore Kumar was
Indian Film
Playback Singer and Actor. He was a prolific vocalist and sang in many Indian languages
including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri,
Malayalam and Oriya. He was
one of the Leading Male
Bollywood
Playback Singers from the 1950s to the mid-1980s. He is also widely
regarded as the most versatile singer in the history of Indian cinema and a
maverick of sorts for lending his voice to songs that did not conform to the
norms of the day.
In October 1987, he died following a
massive heart attack. He had been married four times and is survived by his
two sons
Amit Kumar, who
made his career in playback singing in
Bollywood and
Bengali films, and Sumit Kumar. Abhas Kumar changed his name to Kishore Kumar and started his cinema career
as a chorus singer at
Bombay Talkies.
His first film as an actor was Shikari, in which Ashok Kumar played the lead
role. Music director Khemchand Prakash gave him a chance to sing the song
Marne Ki Duayen Kyon Mangu for the film
Ziddi. After
facing difficulties in the initial stage of his acting career, Kishore Kumar
achieved success as a comic hero with movies like New Delhi, Aasha, Chalti
Ka Naam Gaadi, Jhumroo, Half Ticket and Padosan. Chalti Ka Naam Gadi, his home production, starred the three Ganguly brothers, and
Madhubala.
Music director S.D. Burman is
credited with spotting Kishore Kumar's talent as a singer, and advancing his
singing career. During the making of Mashaal, Burman visited Ashok Kumar's
house, where he heard Kishore imitating K.L. Saigal. He complimented Kishore,
but also told him that he should develop a style of his own, instead of
copying Saigal. Kishore Kumar did not have a formal training in music. He
kept Burman's advice in mind, and eventually developed his own style of
singing. Kishore Kumar was a rebellious singer. He sang in unorthodox style
and created a style of his own very much different from the singing style of
playback singers of his era and even the post Kishore era. He rarely did
alaps in aa aa but used he he ha ha. He practised taan very rarely, but took
subtle variations as demonstrated in the songs Jab Bhi Koi Kangana Bole and
Aankhon Mein Humne Aapke Sapne Sajaye Hain. Kishore Kumar sang for all
leading actors in 1970s, including Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan,
Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Dev Anand and Rishi Kapoor.
Kishore Kumar produced, directed,
and acted in the film Jhumroo. He wrote the lyrics for the title song, Main
Hoon Jhumroo, and composed music for all the songs in the film. Later, he
produced and directed the serious film Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein. He also
wrote the script and composed music for the film. The movie achieved
critical success, which perhaps motivated him to make another two films
called Door Ka Rahi and Door Waadiyon Mein Kahin.
During the Indian Emergency,
Sanjay Gandhi
asked Kishore Kumar to sing for a
Congress rally
in Mumbai, but Kishore Kumar refused. As a result, the Government put a ban
on playing Kishore Kumar songs on the All India Radio
or television. But, Kishore Kumar refused to apologise. Finally, the ban was
lifted after some prominent producers and directors lobbied against it. The
Madhya Pradesh Government honoured him with the
Lata Mangeshkar
award and then renamed the coveted award as
Kishore Kumar award
thereafter.
Kishore Kumar stopped singing for
Amitabh Bachchan
in the mid-1980s, after Amitabh didn't do a guest appearance in a film
produced by him but called a truce with him by singing for him in Toofan
Film).
He also temporarily stopped singing for the actor
Mithun Chakraborty,
after
Yogeeta Bali
divorced him and married Mithun.
Kishore Kumar married four times.
His first wife was
Ruma Guha Thakurta
aka Ruma Ghosh. Their marriage lasted from 1950 to 1958. Kishore Kumar's
second wife was the famous actress
Madhubala, who
had worked with him on many films including his home production
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi.
Madhubala married Kishore Kumar in 1960. Madhubala was a Muslim, and the two
had a civil marriage. His family was against the marriage, and the couple
also had a Hindu marriage
to please them, but Madhubala was not accepted by them. The marriage lasted
for 9 years, and ended with Madhubala's death on February 23, 1969. Kishore Kumar's third marriage was to
Yogeeta Bali,
and lasted from 1976 to August 4, 1978. Kishore Kumar was married to
Leena Chandavarkar
from 1980 until his death. |
